British Columbia has over 20Prostate Cancer Support Groupsmeet once a month. This group is focused on providing help to Chinese-speaking men, but everyone is welcome. We speak Mandarin, Cantonese and English. We meet onthe second Thursday of every monthfrom 7:00pm to 9:00pm at the Richmond Public Library (2/F Brighouse Main Branch, 7700 Minoru Gate, Richmond, BC V6Y 1R8). Please register online atThe Richmond Public Library website (or call 604-231-6413 for registration). Join us forthe professional presentation and talk to other men and family members who have been dealing with prostate cancer for weeks, months or even years.

If you want to chat with a survivor one on one, you may drop in our walking club.The Richmond Blue Walkerswalk on every Tuesdays and Thursdays 9-11am, 5-10 km along the beautiful river dykes and parks in Richmond (Walk in the Richmond Shopping Centre during the raining days or cold seasons). Click here for the scheduleor contact Daniel Leung at 604-836-6423 for the locations and meeting places.

This blog is provided as a public service. Any persons using the information or documents provided on the blog do so at their own risk. Reference:Oncology Guide to Reliable Websites

Monday, December 7, 2015

前列腺癌基金會通訊 Newsletter from Prostate Cancer Foundation BC

Why is Prostate Cancer Foundation BC

important to me?

This holiday season as we look around us and see so much worry and devastation in our world, we can't help but feel saddened. But for every sad story we like to think that there are happy endings. At Prostate Cancer Foundation BC we continue to strive to make the lives of men and their families better, longer and healthier.

To see how we are doing we asked a few people:

"How has the Foundation has helped you?"

"The Foundation has sponsored many activities and programs that have helped to promote awareness and provide access to speakers and current information on living with prostate cancer."

"The Foundation has connected me to many others living with prostate cancer throughout BC and across Canada, and provided a focus for my volunteer service to the prostate cancer cause of research, education & awareness and its community of support groups."

"How important is my support group to me?"

"While a ton of prostate cancer information is available on the internet, one doesn't initially know what is most relevant. Meeting others in a Support Group enabled good engagement with and learning from those who have travelled the prostate cancer road ahead of me, and now to those seeking my own story experience helping them to move forward, and not be alone in their search for proper treatment and dealing with side effects. I have also learned much from good topics & speakers and the discussion that followed."

"Support groups I have been involved with have provided an opportunity to obtain, share and weigh the benefits of information relevant to my situation."

"What was your prostate cancer diagnosis like?"

"The words "you have a positive biopsy for prostate cancer" was a sudden wake-up call & life changing moment. I knew little about how prostate cancer would affect me so set out on an aggressive learning curve, as my first urologist provided little help. I quickly found other prostate cancer survivors guiding me to seek good treatment options, my confidence returned & I was able to move forward."

"Have new treatments helped you in any way?"

"Hearing from others that 'if you are to have prostate cancer, being in Vancouver is the best place to have it" with the world class treatment and research available here. I knew my treatment, a prostatectomy , was a very good option although other treatment options also benefited from leading edge skills and research."

"'New', intervention, diagnostic, and treatment procedures available 10 years ago when I was diagnosed procedures provided important 'alternatives' for me.Funding raised and provided by the foundation helped make them available and are now contributing to the conversion of prostate to a chronic manageable disease."

The value of prostate cancer support groups...one man's story!

"In April 2006, my PSA was elevated, in fact, it had doubled in two years. So my GP called me in and said that I could have a biopsy right away or wait a couple of months and have another PSA test just to insure that it was correct. Naturally I took the easy way out, but two months later it was a little higher. So I had a biopsy and I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer.

That C word is really devastating and while I took it as quite shock my wife took it a lot harder. I just said we will do what we have to do! At the time I was not at all familiar with the Prostate gland and PCa. So I did a lot of research. My PSA had doubled, but it was still pretty low, so my GP and Urologist both said that I could go on a Watchful waiting program. That was a bit of a relief as I wouldn't have to do anything, (except lie in bed and think that there is cancer growing in my body!).

A friend told me about Cancer Connections, you would call a toll free number and give them your details and they would have patients who had different treatments call and talk to you. So one man had external radiation, another brachytherapy and another nerve sparing surgery, it turned out that they were all happy with the decision that they had made. So while they did give me a lot of information, it still didn't make it easier to make a decision.

I did a lot more research on the possible treatments, side effects, etc. Then I heard that there was a PC Support group meeting in our neighbouring town. So I attended one night. I had talked to some very good Doctors, who had a lot of education, but had never personally experienced PCa and had to make a decision, so it was very useful to me to talk to other men that were going on the same journey as me. It was interesting to hear how they all made their decision whatever it was.

But the speaker that night was a local urologist and he spoke about a Patient that he had seen that week that fit my description exactly. He was 61 years old with very similar PSA and Gleason scores. That patient was thinking about going on watchful waiting, and the Urologist said "What are you waiting for? The cancer is not going to go away! You are only 61 years old and have a lot of living left to do. If you were 81 years old that might be a consideration.

When I got home that night, I told my wife that I wanted to have nerve sparing surgery. At that time our local Urologist was not doing nerve sparing surgery, so referred me to one of the top urologists in North America at the Prostate Centre and within a couple of months I had the surgery, and 4 weeks later I was swinging a golf club and 6 weeks later I was playing racquetball! My urologist said that I should be a poster boy for Nerve sparing surgery. I do feel very blessed, and happy that I did attend that support group meeting to help me make the decision.

Since then I have been instrumental in organizing a support group locally and hopefully we can continue to raise awareness and help other newly diagnosed men. I know that a lot of men do not feel that they need any support, I think that they will find that the information that they get from other men is invaluable, so strongly encourage men recently diagnosed to attend the nearest Support group meeting."

We continue to need your help!

If you can make a donation this holiday season know that your money will go a long way in our fight against the number one cancer for men.

With every $150 or more donation to the foundation until December 25th you will receive a free copy of the new book Legacies aren't just for Dead People by Robb Lucy.

In the news!

Prostate cancer drug developed by B.C. researchers to begin trials

Clinical trials will start today for a new prostate cancer drug developed by researchers at the BC Cancer Agency and University of British Columbia.

The new medication, which took 17 years to develop, is aimed at men with the most advanced, hard-to-treat form of the disease.

Approximately 30 patients - in British Columbia, Arizona, Michigan and Washington states - will participate in the trials, which are expected to last about five years.

The new drug, called EPI-506 was developed from a compound found in a marine sponge from Papua New Guinea. It is aimed at men whose treatment for the disease has been unsuccessful, said Dr. Marianne Sadar, who developed the drug along with UBC chemistry professor Raymond Anderson.

Right now, between 70 to 80 per cent of men diagnosed with prostate cancer will be cured with surgery or radiation, Dr. Sadar said. But for the rest, these treatments have failed.

Hope for patients

"There are a lot of people that are banking that this might really help patients," Sadar said.

Sadar and Anderson discovered the compound for the new drug from the marine sponge. Anderson had a collection of sponge extracts in his lab, Sadar said.

The organisms are often used in drug research because they're made up of molecules with many drug-like properties. The compound extracted from the sponge was developed into the new drug.

Sadar said she began working on the drug in 1998.

If the clinical trials are successful, it will be up to regulators at Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve the drug for use in Canada and the U.S.

"There are a lot of people that are banking that this might really help patients," Sadar said.

Advance care planning is a process of reflection and communication. It is a time for you to reflect on your values and wishes, and to let people know what kind of health and personal care you think you may want in the future if you become unable to consent or refuse treatment or other care. This webinar will provide information about why advance care planning is important for men with prostate cancer, and how to do advance care planning.

The purpose of this workshop is to:

1. Provide an overview of what advance care planning (ACP) is.

2. Foster understanding as to why ACP is important for people living with prostate cancer,

3. Help men with prostate cancer, their partners and families learn the steps involved in the ACP process, and how to start these types of conversations,

4. Familiarize participants with the available resources on ACP.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Prostate Cancer Foundation BC Support Group Council

The Council meets four or five times a year to plan and coordinate activities around the province. Our meetings are usually by teleconference and at each one we try to examine the health of our groups across the province. To that end, group leaders may get a call from one of our members asking about meetings and membership. But you don't have to wait for that call if you have a question, suggestion, or comment. You can contact any of our members:

Do You Have Prostate Cancer? You Can Now Take Part in a New Research Study

During the study, you and your partner will learn about the importance of diet and lifestyle factors for prostate health.

You and your partner will participate in six cooking and nutrition classes, which will be led by a cooking expert. You will learn about foods that may slow the progression of prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers live with side effects of the treatment and changes in their personal relationships. However, nutrition can have a role in preventing or lessening some of these.

Dr. Carolyn Gotay is Principal Investigator of the study. She is Director of the Centre of Excellence in Cancer Prevention and a Professor in the School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia.

She holds the Canadian Cancer Society Chair in Cancer Primary Prevention. The Centre is a partnership between

The BC Support Group Council is once again hard at work preparing for a major workshop to be held in Vancouver in September 2016. An email was sent out recently to ask everyone to Save the Dates of September 23, 24, 25. If you didn't get that message, and you want to be on the list, tell us atexpandhorizons2016@gmail.com This workshop will have a lot of information on the latest advances in patient care, and several sessions on how to make your support group better, stronger and more resilient.

To register for any of these information sessions or future information sessions, please call Monita Sundar, PCSC Program Coordinator at (604) 875-4485 or emailPCSC@vch.ca

We sure could use your help!

Do you have any time to spare.

Our many fundraising events require a lot of work and we are looking for volunteers to join our planning committees. If you have a bit of free time and would like to help out with the Father's Day Run or The Westcoast Motorcycle Ride to Live then please call Rhonda at 604-574-4012. You don't have to be a rider, runner or walker, just an enthusiastic person who wants to give back!